A Handful of Bethyl
by leftmywingshome
Summary: A collection on one-shots created for the Summer of Bethyl 2018! Each one is a prompt and the prompt is the title. AU and ZA! I hope you enjoy them! UBFL 2018 Moonshine Award Winners Rush 3rd place Best AU. Calm 2nd Best One-shot.
1. Talk

**A/N A Handful of Bethyl for the Summer of Bethyl 2018. The prompt is "Talk"**

Beth Greene likes to talk. She's been talking almost non stop since he picked her up for their date. But it's mainly okay because he doesn't talk much at all. And he likes watching her. She's very animated. And she's pretty, maybe the prettiest girl he's ever seen.

His friend Rick and Beth's friend Michonne, who happen to be in a relationship which kind of makes them all friends, he thinks, Rick and Michonne set them up on a 'not so blind' date. They already know one another from get-togethers at Rick's place where Michonne now lives. So they aren't strangers. They might even be friends by default.

But it is kind of awkward like he figures a blind date would be. And he would never agree to a blind date anyway. He would never agree to any date or being set up with anyone ever. But.

He's kind of had a thing for Beth Greene since the first time he met her at Rick's. She's sweet and kind and so pretty. He just doesn't remember her talking as much as she is tonight.

When Rick first told him he thought they should hang out he'd laughed and then glared at his friend because it felt like a very cruel joke.

"She ain't gonna wanna go anywhere with me. She probably likes college guys, the smart ones that wear glasses." Daryl had said and Rick just laughed.

"She likes your jeans, actually she likes your butt in your jeans. Told Michonne. Said it was nice to look at." Rick said.

"Fuck you.. yer lying." Beth Greene would not look at his ass. Would she?

"I swear! When Michonne told her she wanted to set you to up Beth didn't believe her either, she figured you like women in leather with big boobs."

"What the hell? I don't... She's… I like her boobs, they're nice." Daryl didn't realize what he'd said until he said it.

"There you go! She likes your butt you like her boobs, it's a match made in heaven!" Rick had thought he was so fucking clever. But then again, here they are. On a date.

And she's talking about something. Wait, she's talking about sex. He was working himself up to add something to the conversation and then...

O O O

She's having a really hard time believing that Daryl Dixon actually wanted to go on a date. With her. Rick must have convinced him or bribed him.

He can't have actually agreed to do this on his own. He rides a motorcycle and has that smoldering look that bad boys have, the one that drives all the girls crazy. But she knows for a fact he's not all bad. He carries Judith around on his shoulders and blows raspberries on her tummy and sometimes he's the only one who can get her to go to sleep.

On his chest. She's actually jealous of a baby.

He also plays checkers with Carl and takes the trash out for Michonne. He always makes it a point to say hello to her and he always offers to grab her a beer or soda. One time they were paired up as a team for a game of corn hole and they beat everybody. He gave her a high five and she gave him a hug. She's noticed he watches her. A lot. It's not creepy, not like it could be. And if she catches him he blushes and it's sweet.

But it hasn't gone any further than that and she's always figured she just isn't his type.

Dating isn't her thing. She had a boyfriend in high school. But that relationship ended after graduation and after she finally agreed to have sex with Jimmy. Then came Zach who turned out to be a much better friend than a lover and a couple of other friends of friends who never got past the first date.

It's always been about sex and she's not against sex. Not at all. She grew up in a religious home but never planned on saving herself for marriage. She wishes now she'd saved herself for something better than Jimmy though, but that's water under the bridge.

She's just told Daryl Dixon all of this.

She talks too much. Especially when she's nervous.

But he's not saying anything and it's frustrating. And now she's made a complete fool of herself.

"I'm sorry Daryl, I shouldn't have told you all of that…." Grabbing her water glass she takes a big drink and does her best to compose herself.

" 'S alright." He's smiling at her, a little and she feels even worse.

"I talk a lot. I jus-"

"I know."

"And you aren't really saying much, which you're kinda quiet but, look if you aren't interested, if Rick put you up to this we don't have to-"

"Rick didn't make me do nothin'. "

"Oh."

It's quiet. Really quiet because all of a sudden she has no idea what to say. Then Daryl clears his throat.

"I, uh, I don't date. 'S been a long time. My brother always tried ta set me up with his kinda woman, ya know leather and big boobs..." She's already been listening, attentively because Daryl doesn't normally talk, but when he says that she can't decide if she wants to die or hop over in the booth with him and kiss him.

"That's not your type?" she asks nonchalantly.

"Nah." He takes a drink of water, runs his finger through the condensation on the outside of the glass.

"What is your type, Daryl?" She gives herself a mental warning to take it slow, don't open the floodgates again. He shrugs his shoulders looks away from her and out the plate glass window at the cars passing on the highway.

"Ain't got a type," he pauses and looks back at her, right at her and it's like going over a bump in the road when you aren't expecting it. For a second you're weightless. "I like you."

He likes her. And he's the first man that's rendered her speechless.

"Oh."

"Ya got a type?" Does she have a type? Does she have a voice anymore? What has this man done to her?

"I like you." She can't say it without blushing and apparently, he can't hear it without blushing either.

O O O

She likes him? She said it. And her cheeks got this soft pink tinge to them and what he really wants to do is reach over and touch one, see if it's warm.

She starts talking again about everything. The farm she grew up on, going to college, her job as a music teacher and it's nice to listen too. She asks him questions and he manages to answer in more than just one or two words.

Maybe it's rubbing off, all her talking is loosening his tongue too. Just a little.

After they finish dinner they drive around some and then he figures it's getting late and he better take her home.

He doesn't want to. But like he told her, he doesn't date and he isn't sure how this is all supposed to go.

When they pull up in front of her apartment building she looks over at him and smiles.

"Thank you, Daryl, I had a nice time." And then she starts to get out of his truck. He might not date but he knows how this part is supposed to go or at least how he wants it to go.

"Hang on, lemme…" He fumbles with the handle on the door. And goes around and opens her door. She slides out and gives him a big smile that makes him want to push her back in the truck and keep driving anywhere, all night just to be with her and listen to her.

She talks as they walk up to the door and as she digs in her purse for her keys. He doesn't have a clue what she's saying.

He's thinking about how he's gonna say goodnight. But she's still talking. She finally stops to take a breath and he leans in, cups her cheek and kisses her.

It's soft at first and then it's more. And he likes her lips when she's talking, but he likes them more when she's kissing him. Or he's kissing her.

"That's one way to shut me up," she says breathlessly once they pull apart.

"I like listenin' to ya." But he likes kissing her more.

"You could come in… I mean if you want to." He does he really does but it isn't gonna be like that. Like she said it was with other guys, just sex. If he goes in there and she keeps kissing him it wouldn't just be about sex but if he waits and they hang out a little more and she talks a lot more...

"Nah, I mean thanks but I think I'm jus gonna come back in the morning, take ya ta breakfast. If ya want…" She gets it. Cause she's smiling.

"I'd like that Daryl." She kisses him again, she does it and it makes it even harder to leave. "I promise to try not to talk so much."

"Nah, keep talking," he says reaching out to brush her hair from her cheek.

"It doesn't annoy you?"

" 'S okay. I like it."

"Okay. Good night Daryl. See you in the morning." She pushes herself up on her toes for one last kiss and he pulls her in close and kisses her back.

"Good night Beth."

 _~fin_


	2. Calm

**A/N A Handful of Bethyl Summer of Bethyl 2018. the prompt is 'Calm'. Daryl calms his colicky newborn daughter.**

She's crying again. Not just normal fussy baby cries either. His daughter, only a week and a half old is screaming like she's in horrible pain.

Which according to all the nosy mamas and aunties and every woman who's ever given birth, Paisley is in pain.

Gas, they say and then they drill Beth on everything she's eaten in the past 24 hours that might have upset the baby's little tummy. Try formula they say, but Beth is adamant about breastfeeding Paisley. She was born early they say, and yes Paisley came three weeks before her due date and only weighed five pounds. But she was breathing on her own, started nursing on her own, did everything a full term newborn did and Daryl is tired of watching his wife break down because she thinks she did something wrong and somehow it hurt their baby.

"She's perfect Beth, everythin' about her.. she jus' grumpy like her old man."

The worst is Beth's friend Sasha. She's going to school to be some kind of head doctor. The ones that tell you what you're doing wrong with your life and how it all stems back to your birth. Could be sertona-something and melatoni-something else. There have been studies done but nothing concrete. And blah, blah, blah… Daryl can't even argue with the woman because he can't pronounce the names of the things she's saying are making baby Paisley miserable. So he chooses to ignore them and he won't let Beth dwell on them either.

"It's fucking bullshit Beth.. come on baby, Sasha ain't even graduated yet! It's gonna be okay. Make an appointment with that baby doctor we met, Dr. Denise." Daryl liked her. She had patients call her by her first name, ' _because little kids aren't as scared of me if they can call me Denise.'_ She's smart and she knows her shit as far as Daryl is concerned. When she came into the hospital to see Paisley after she was born her hands were sure and able and she looked at the baby's tiny face and then looked at Daryl, a smile on her own face.

"Wha'?" he'd asked because he was getting that itchy feeling on the back of his neck, the one he got when he was nervous.

"You've got your hands full with this one, I mean just look at those eyes! She's watching everything." Denise lovingly tucked the blanket back around Paisley's tiny body.

"She's too damn little ta know what's going on yet…" Daryl mumbled but he wanted to believe his baby girl was already on her way to being something special.

"Though she be but little, she is fierce…"

"Wha' the hell's that?"

"Shakespeare. She's a fighter, just look at her!" She'd passed the tiny infant off to Daryl while her and Beth setup Paisley's first well baby check-up appointment.

 **O**

Today he'd headed out to a half day job that he only took because it would open up doors to other opportunities and also because Beth had threatened him if he didn't she'd hold off having sex way past the six weeks suggested waiting period.

"This is a no-brainer, Daryl. You need to make contacts and Maggie can take us to the Dr. Come on, you've worked so hard for this business. It's for me and Paisley too."

So he'd relented and headed out early that morning leaving his girls tucked in bed watching House Hunters Georgia. When he got home they were both napping. Beth on their bed and Paisley in her Moses basket next to her. Taking advantage of the calm he'd headed into the bathroom for a quick shower.

He hears Paisley's cries even before he gets out of the shower. It must have been the calm before the storm and that thing that Dr. Denise had said about Paisley being fierce, she was definitely living up to it. Pulling on his sweats he pushes open the bathroom door. Beth's sitting cross-legged on the bed watching Paisley scream her tiny fierce head off.

Looking over at Daryl her blue eyes huge and doleful she sniffs and quickly brushes a tear from her cheek.

"Dr. Denise said it's probably colic and no one really knows what colic is but that she can run tests to rule out anything else which she doesn't think it's anything else… it happens, nothing I did caused it and it will go away." She barely took a breath while she spilled all of this and Paisley continued to scream. Daryl looks at his two sad girls and crosses his arms.

"She gave me a list of things we could try, might help. She can prescribe medicine…

"Paisley ain't sick and ya don't want her taking nothin', ya said so," Daryl says refusing to let Beth back down from any of her convictions, like eating better and planting a garden, taking walks in the woods and him hunting and fishing for their food.

"No I don't, she's so tiny… I just, if she's hurting… Oh, Daryl, I don't know what to do!" Now Beth is crying too. Both of his girls, the two most important people in his world are breaking his heart and he isn't gonna stand for it.

Then a little light goes off in his head and he thinks about the thing that Beth likes best when she's upset and sad. Walking over to the bed he sits beside the basket and reaches for Paisley. Unsnapping her tiny onesie he gently eases it off of her so she's just arms and legs in a scrap of a diaper. Lifting her in his arms he stands and settles her little body against his chest, one hand cupping her head the other curled around her little-diapered butt. Swaying slowly back and forth he starts humming, nothing, in particular, just noise that makes his chest vibrate and seems to soothe the baby. Because she's just whimpering now. Then he starts talking in a low growly voice, the voice her mama loves.

He tells her she's gotta stop all this crying and if she needs him to hold her and help her he will. He'll do anything for her cause she's gotta stop making her mama cry.

"Ya make yer mama cry and then I wanna cry and won't be good at all if tha whole family 's balling. Come on baby girl, daddy's gotcha now. 'S all gonna be okay…"

"You did it!" Beth whispers. She's presses herself up against his back and slips her arms around his waist.

"This is how I calm ya down when yer feeling upset or sad, figured maybe she'd like it too," Daryl whispers.

Paisley falls asleep like that and eventually, Daryl eases her back into her basket and she sleeps for what feels like forever. Long enough for him to get some kisses from his best girl and remind her that he did what she asked so they have a date in about 4 weeks or so.

"Maybe sooner, she was tiny… there are some perks in delivering a little early, Dr. Denise told me that too. But you know until then what I can't do with my body..." Oh hell!

"Woman.," he growls nuzzling his face in her hair. He loves her body best but she does have a way with her hands and mouth and she takes care of him. Always does.

"Thank you… you're officially our knight errant!" Beth whispers in his ear.

"More a that Shakespeare bullshit?" Daryl grumbles.

"Shakespeare?" Daryl tells her what Dr. Denise said about Paisley in the hospital and Beth's hand flies to her mouth.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream! Oh! I love that.. she's a fighter, our baby girl, a fighter with a heart like her daddy's." Beth is kissing him all over his face and seeing her happy like this is the icing on the cake.

"Yeah, that.." he says sliding his hands into her hair.

 **O**

Paisley continues to have her little crying jags but Daryl knows what to do. He pulls his shirt over his head while Beth gets Paisley down to her diaper and then he tucks his little girl under his chin and hums or tells her a story or just walks around the house trying to ignore Beth who follows him around with more than a glint in her eye.

"There's nothing sexier than Daryl Dixon loving on his baby girl." That's what she says and he glares at her and waves her away. But he feels the blush creeping up his neck and he's well aware of her double meaning.

But the crying is becoming less frequent and although it's a blessing Daryl has an ache he doesn't quite understand. This is what they wanted. Isn't it? No more crying.

 **O**

After a long day where nothing went right Daryl's glad to be home. The house is oddly quiet. Evidence that Beth started dinner is on the counter but she's not in the kitchen. Sprinting up the stairs he pushes open their bedroom door. His eyes meet Beth's.

She's wearing her little sleep shorts and nothing else and she has Paisley tucked up against her lithe frame. She's rocking gently in the rocker, humming a song. Daryl carefully makes his way over to them.

"She kinda fell apart and you weren't here so I thought I'd try." Beth smiles. Kneeling down next to the chair and trying his best to ignore the lump in his throat he gives her a half smile.

"Oh yeah? 'S working…" Was working. Paisley hears his voice and the calm that he'd walked in on ripples and waves like someone skipping a stone over a glassy pond. With a grunt and a whimper that fierce little girl makes it known that while mama will do in a pinch it's daddy she wants. Sighing Beth waits while Daryl strips off his shirt and takes the squalling baby and does his daddy magic. There's also a little bit of baby magic going on too. That lump in Daryl's throat shrank down to nothing and he's back to knight in shining armor status.

Coming up behind him and pressing her naked chest to his back her breath warms his skin as she whispers,

"Her favorite place to be is in your arms. Can't say I blame her."

 _~fin_

 **A/N You all love Bethyl babies… I hope you liked it! Thank you for reading!**


	3. Fear

**A/N A Handful of Bethyl Summer of Bethyl 2018. The prompt is fear. It turns out there is something Daryl Dixon is afraid of. Bethyl AU one-shot.**

It's quiet. It's always at this time of the morning and Daryl likes it that way. It's just them, him and her.

He's been coming into the little diner for about two months now. Ever since the coffee maker at the gas station across the street took a dump. The owners too cheap to replace it.

And that's probably the best thing that ever happened to him.

He's at his usual spot down at the end of the counter. And he's just finishing up his first cup of coffee when the bell over the door jingles. Glancing over his shoulder he gets a look at the newcomer. He can count on one hand the times the someone else has come into the diner before seven am.

But this isn't a customer.

The guy is higher than a kite. Most likely meth, Daryl's seen it before, knows the signs. Besides the filthy clothing and mop of dirty hair, his face is covered with little sores and he's acting sketchy, searching the empty diner for something that isn't there.

Daryl sees it when his eyes light on Beth who just happens to be standing right behind the cash register.

Daryl Dixon isn't afraid of anything. At least he wasn't up until the moment he watched this creep head towards the girl he's spent the last two months falling in love with, the girl who changed his mind about everything. The girl who he'd finally got the nerve up to ask out on a date.

Fear, like he's never known hits him smack in the chest, forcing all of the air out of his lungs, propelling him out of his seat and over the counter. His eyes are on her and he watches as she raises her head, that beautiful smile in place ready to greet her customer. That smile wavers for a second and fades away as she shuffles backward.

When he hops the counter Daryl's left boot connects with a napkin dispenser and a little glass salt shaker. They crash to the floor, distracting the intruder as he fumbles with something in the waistband of his jeans.

There are a few precious seconds, enough time for Daryl to cover the distance between them, step in front of her and reach back and cover her hand with his.

"Hey, whada ya- don't move man! Don't move!" Daryl can see the gun shaking in the guy's unsteady hands but it's pointed right at Daryl and one wrong move…

"Easy man, 'm jus' gonna help ya out. Money, ya want money-" Maybe he can end this before it goes any further. Give the guy what he wants, what guys like this always want and get him out of the diner, away from Beth.

"Unload it- all of it in here." A dirty pillowcase dangles from the intruder's hand.

Looking down at the cash register, Daryl tries to concentrate, tries to make sense of the symbols on the buttons. How the hell does it open? Pushing a few buttons an error message flashes on the screen.

"Come on man, I don't think she's gonna look very pretty with a couple holes in her head!" The guy leans over trying to look at Beth.

"I'm gettin' it... I'm-" Beth's saying something and he moves a little, lets her press herself against him.

"There's a code, I have too-" She's trembling but she steps forward, eyes darting from the intruder to the cash register. Reaching out with a small delicate hand she pushes a few buttons and the register drawer opens. A couple of beaded bracelets dangle off of her wrist and they catch the light as she moves her hand back, her body following, pressing even closer to him.

Daryl's heart sinks as he looks down into the drawer. There are a couple of twenties, a ten and some fives and ones. Maybe the guy won't notice maybe he'll just take it and go.

"We start out with a small…" He wants to tell her to stop, be quiet, don't draw attention to herself, but it's too late and she was only trying to help.

"Empty it! Let's go or I'm taking her with me!" Daryl hears the small gasp behind him and feels her hand tighten where she's got ahold of his belt loop. Pulling out the drawer Daryl dumps it into the open pillowcase. The guy immediately shakes it a frown on his gaunt face. "Yeah, this ain't gonna work!"

"It's 5:30 in the morning, case ya hadn't noticed ain't nobody else here." Daryl can't help himself where the fuck does this guy think he's at? The bank?

"Think yer pretty funny tough guy, gimme the bitch, I'll take her instead." A twisted smile has him looking more like a monster than the pathetic little dope fiend he is and Daryl feels the fear he thought he had in check winding its way up around his heart. He will take a bullet before he lets this thing get his hands on Beth.

"Nah, look I got-" Daryl remembers he pulled money out of his safe that morning to pay his power bill. Shoving his hand in his front pocket he pulls out a hundred dollar bill and a pocket knife. Tossing them on the counter he searches for her hand and grabs it, holds on and squeezes gently.

"Now we're talkin'!" Shoving the money and knife in the pillowcase with the rest of the stuff he waves the gun in Daryl's face again. "Get on the floor, behind that counter and stay there!"

Daryl tugs at Beth's hand, pulling her first and as she kneels in front of him he lowers himself down beside her. Her eyes are wide with fear and fixed on him, taking both of her hands he leans in close so she can hear him.

"Ya hear that bell, we're going out the back." She nods and blinks a few times. Tears. He can see them but she's not giving into them, she's tough and being so brave and god she's beautiful. He'll take a thousand bullets for her.

The bell jingles and that's their cue. Raising up slowly he pushes her in front of him and as they're heading towards the swinging kitchen door there's a gunshot and the front door slams open, bell jingling madly. The intruder is back with his pillowcase and his gun and he's halfway through the doorway when another shot is fired and then there's blood and a body crumpled on the floor. Daryl wraps an arm around Beth's waist and pulls her back down behind the counter.

Radio static, footsteps, his pounding heart and her frantic breathing. Laying his palm against her cheek he looks at her, nods. _Its okay, it's okay Beth._ He wants to say it but the words are stuck in his throat. She's here in his arms and she's safe. He's got her, he's got-

Her arms wind around his neck and her lips, her lips are so soft and she's kissing him and now she's crying for real and climbing into his lap. He's doing his best to kiss her back and hold onto her.

"I thought he was gonna hurt you, I thought," she's talking and trying to kiss him at the same time and she's worried about him. Him.

He's been coming into this diner for the past two months because of her. The first day it had been storming and he was wet and cold and all he wanted was a hot cup of coffee. She'd given him that and a towel and then a bowl of oatmeal with banana slices and cinnamon and she'd said she was so glad he came in because she was working alone and storms made her nervous and did he need another cup of coffee?

Every day after that it was her that brought him back. Her smile and the way she loosened everything up inside him until he was smiling back at her, talking to her, falling head over heels in love with her.

"Uh-uh. Wasn' gonna happen. Had somethin' I needed ta do. Wasn't gonna let no crazy dude on meth with a gun stop me either." He's brushing his thumb over her cheek, catching the tears as they fall.

"What did you have to do?" But he can see it in her eyes, she already knows or maybe she was hoping.

"Ask ya out on a date, a real one. Not just coffee." She does the one thing he was hoping she would. She kisses him again. On the floor, behind the counter of the diner which is now a crime scene.

A cop finds them shortly after and they find out that Noah, the cook who comes in at 6:30 decided to come in earlier and he overheard the robbery taking place and called the cops.

Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it, the intruder, who happened to have a warrant out for his arrest, raised his gun in a threatening manner and the cops did what they had to do. He's leaving in an ambulance that won't need to use its siren or lights during transport. This doesn't bother Daryl at all.

They give their statements, decline medical evaluation and Beth's boss sends her home for the rest of the week. She usually walks to work because she lives two blocks away but she lets Daryl drive her home and after he calls his boss it's her idea that they go on that date he was gonna ask her on right away.

"I don't want to wait anymore." She was waiting? For him?

"Me either." He'll go anywhere and do anything with her. He's made her wait long enough and it was almost too long. It could've been over before it started.

The fear of missing out on her is on he something he doesn't want to think about. Ever.

 _~fin_

 **A/N Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think!**


	4. Heat

A Handful of Bethyl Summer of Bethyl 2018

 **A/N It's a day late… but better late than never! Dary 3 of Summer of Bethyl 2018 and the prompt is Heat. It was hot the first time she kissed him and it was hot when he finally kissed her back.**

Hanging out by the river is supposed to be a way to beat the heat but Daryl thinks he could have just as easily gone home, took a cold shower and stayed inside with the AC. But besides the heat, it's nice here and he likes being outdoors.

Of all the guys in the MC, Dwight is one of the two that Daryl has any desire to hang out with outside of club business. Not that business is booming. The Moonshiners are low key and Daryl is really just a member because of Merle. He's not much of a joiner.

"Ain't no fuckin' cooler down here." Daryl mumbles. Down here being a little clearing next to the river. There are a small beach and a barbecue pit. Their bikes are parked in the shade and Daryl's sitting on a picnic table watching Dwight skip rocks.

"I know. Kinda had to come out here. Gotta check something out," Dwight says. Squatting next to the river's edge he scoops up a handful of rocks.

"I knew it. What the hell ya drag me along 'fore?" Daryl asks.

"Merle said we had ta have two guys and I ain't hanging with that dipshit prospect Shawn brought in. Hell, he don't even ride that badass bike he's got. He just wants in Shawn's little sister's pants!"

Shawn's little sister. Beth. This gets Daryl's attention.

He and Beth have a history. That's what he likes to think of it as. When Shawn started hanging around the Moonshiners he and Daryl hit it off. Which was unusual but it was okay. The first time Daryl went out to the farm Hershel was struggling with one of his tractors and Daryl offered to help. Next thing he knew he was the only guy Hershel would call to work on his farm equipment. And Shawn seemed to rope him into helping out with everything else.

And there was Beth. She smiled and he was done for.

For the past three years, they've been doing this weird dance. One he never understood until just recently. He thought what he was feeling was mainly one-sided. Sure he'd seen the little looks she gave him. But besides the fact that he's got a decade and then some on her, they can't have much in common. And he'd really been okay with that. But then he found out he was wrong and everything changed.

She kissed him. In the barn. He'd come out late one night to drop off her brother, saving his drunk ass from jail after another bar brawl. She was there, helped him with Shawn. And then she went and broke all of his rules and turned his whole world upside down.

' _I wish you could see yourself the way I see you. Maybe you'd get it, maybe you'd understand… all this, these guys, you're better than that. I know, I...'_

 _Pushing herself up on her toes her palms flat on his chest, she gave life to one of his many fantasies. Because yes he does have those, about her. That's all he gets. He doesn't get the girl._

 _But she kissed him. And to top it all off she knows his secret. She held it in the palm of her hand. A small glass ball. Let him see it before she left him standing there barely breathing in the barn._

Before Daryl can even process what Dwight's just said, beyond Beth's name, two lifted trucks full of young guys come barreling into a picnic area on the other side of the river and a little way down. The music is loud, blaring out of speakers too big to be legal and the guys are even louder.

"Fuckin perfect!" Daryl growls. But Dwight's shaking his head and moving back from the water.

"It is, thought we might have to hunt 'em down."

"This what ya gotta check out? A buncha fuckin'-" But Daryl's rant and his stomach fall flat. Another car's pulled up. Girls. It's girls. One, in particular, catches his eye. But she always does. He can't not look at her even if he didn't want too. He's been avoiding her for the past month because, to be honest, he has no fuckin' idea what to do with her kiss and the words she said and what she knows.

But he hasn't stopped looking.

"Yep," Dwight says. "Hey ain't that Beth?"

It's Beth in cut off jeans and a little white bikini top. Her hair is pulled up in a messy knot of curls. She's got a bag over her shoulder and she's laughing at something one of the guys is saying. Her laughter is cut short when her friend leans over and whispers something in her ear. She glances over at him, across the river where he's sitting on the picnic table. Daryl sees the expression on her face change and she doesn't take her eyes off of him as she drops her bag on the ground beside her and shimmies out of her cut-offs. Cat calls come from the other side of the river and she climbs up a rock that juts out over the water. Some jackass is yelling at her to jump. But all he sees is her.

And she's so fucking beautiful he wants to look away.

 **O**

Coming to the river was Rosita's idea, Beth only agreed because sitting at home trying to figure out why Daryl's avoiding her isn't doing anything. He won't even look at her. And he's had plenty of chances to do so.

So she'll indulge Rosita.

And there'll be beer to loosen her inhibitions and boys to fawn over her, stroke her bruised ego. And that's not her, not really. She doesn't need that, doesn't even want it.

But.

Kissing Daryl was the stupidest thing she ever did but she can't find it in her to regret it. Of course, she'll take it all back if it guarantees she doesn't lose him completely. Because that would be the worst thing. They're kind of friends and she kind of likes him. A lot.

She thought he liked her too. Maybe she was wrong.

"Come on Greene, you first! I double dared ya, can't back out!" Jimmy says. She's laughing at his eager face when Rosita leans in.

"Hey, isn't that Daryl Dixon over there? He following you?"

It is Daryl and although she's pretty sure he isn't following her, but maybe Shawn sent him. He'd do it for Shawn. Dwight's with him and they're wearing their cuts. They strut around like peacocks wearing those ridiculous patches. She can't deny that it does things to her, seeing Daryl in his, seeing him on his bike. But that's not all he is, he's so much more. Deserves so much more. That's what she was trying to tell him and then she messed it all up by kissing him.

Now he's here and he's watching her and she's gonna give him a show.

 **O**

"Go on, send that rope over," she calls. Daryl sees her hesitate once she's got the rope in her hands. And for a second the Beth he knows is back. Because this other girl, the one in the white bikini she's a little wilder, a little sexier a little more daring than his Beth. His Beth? He wants to beat the shit out of the guys whistling at her.

"Come on Greene, don't be a pussy!" Some asshole taunts. White knuckling his beer bottle Daryl tenses up for a second until she gives him a smile and grabs the rope with her lean arms and pulls up. He sees the definition of muscle in her arms and legs. She's small, but she's strong. He's worked right alongside her on the farm and she never once shied away from hard work.

When she jumps she shrieks and lets her head fall back and in the widest arc of her swings she lets go and drops into the cool emerald green of the river below. Hoots and hollers come from both sides of the river and the one taunting her before calls out,

"I hope ya lost that top Beth! Let's see them titties!" Daryl is off the table and headed in the general direction of the guy he plans on drowning when Dwight grabs his arm.

"What the hell ya doing?"

"Can't talk ta her like that. I'm gonna kick his ass!" Daryl growls.

"Not yer not. Got a fucking job ta do. Just sit. Come on Daryl."

But Daryl doesn't want too. What he wants is to pound the fucker into the ground. He wonders briefly if the guy has seen Beth that way, nothing on. Fuck. He watches as she comes out of the water, right where he and Dwight are. She still has her top on and he breathes a sigh of relief. But she's wet and wearing next to nothing and what she is wearing is kind of see-through and suddenly the sun feels ten times hotter.

"What are you doing out here?" She's asking them both but she's looking at Daryl and his mouth is dry and he's distracted by the little droplets of water that are running down between the swell of her breasts. They're catching light from the sun and sparkling like tiny diamonds. He wants to catch them on his finger, his tongue... "Shawn send you out here to check up me?"

"We're checking up on something but it ain't you, uh.." Dwight looks over at Daryl with a smirk on his face and Daryl glares at the other man until he looks away.

Beth leans in and takes Daryl's beer from his hand. She finishes off what's left in the bottle and sets it on the picnic table. Raising his eyebrows he looks from her to the bottle.

"Don't think yer legal…"

"You gonna call the cops on me Daryl?" He can't help it, his eyes are drawn to her lips. The lips she kissed him with. He hears the guttural rumble of motorcycles but his focus is on her and the pale pink lip gloss that should've come off in the water.

"Uh Daryl, we got company." Dwight grabs the rest of the beer off the table and heads over to his bike leaving Daryl to look from Beth to the bikers that have crashed the party on the other side of the river.

"Who are they?" Beth asks.

"Ain't ours. Don' belong here."

"You going over there?" Daryl nods. This must be what Dwight was sent to check up on. Territory wars don't sit well with him. They never have. It's a stupid reason to fight. As are most of the reasons they fight. But it's part of the code and he's always gone along with it. Just something he does.

"Okay, well I'll see you-" She starts to walk back down to the river and he knows this isn't gonna happen. He also knows that he's done fighting this, whatever it is. Reaching out he wraps his hand around her arm. It's warm from the sun and he can feel the muscles he saw when she jumped in the river.

"Uh-uh. Ya gotta come with me, can't let ya- Ya gotta stay with me, Beth." His voice softens and he drops his hand when she looks at it where it's wrapped around her arm.

"I gotta go with you?" He sees a little defiance there and he can appreciate it, but it's half-hearted and she starts toward his bike. He lets her go in front of him and when they get to the bike he looks at her, barefoot in a bikini that's barely covering anything. And he gestures to the bike.

"Get on front. Ain't havin' ya burn yerself on the pipes," he mumbles. Dwight's bike roars to life and Daryl tries to ignore the smug little smile on Beth's face as she hops on the bike and he settles himself behind her.

But he's the furthest thing from settled that he's ever been.

 **O**

It's a short ride over a bridge and back down to where Rosita and the others are. Jimmy and some guys from school. Locals who stayed close to home. Not really close friends of hers except for Rosita and Jimmy.

When they pull up Dwight is having words with the two prospects who Beth can see look a little nervous. There's another guy hanging over near them. She doesn't know his name, doesn't care, and doesn't want to get off Daryl's bike.

But she can't just sit there. With a hand on his thigh, she hops off.

"Get yer clothes on and bring yer stuff-" He's being bossy and with the way, he's acted the past month she isn't done making him feel the heat for that.

"What are you my babysitter now, Mr. Dixon?" Rosita and a couple of the guys are standing nearby and can definitely hear the exchange. And this alone is enough to get him riled up. She's the only one that can actually tell though. He drops the kickstand on his bike, climbs off and gets right in her space.

"Don't make me put ya over my knee in front a all yer friends." He's too good at this game. It's supposed to be her running the show. Sighing she goes to grab her stuff as he walks over to Dwight.

"Um, what the hell is going on? Are you flirting with him?" Jimmy asks as she tugs on her shorts and slips her feet into her converse.

"She's flirting with him." Rosita smiles.

"He's-" Jimmy starts in but Beth shuts him down.

"He's Daryl. I'm gonna- I'm…" Beth stammers feeling the blush on her cheeks. Her hearts pounding as she walks over to his bike. She has a feeling things are going to be different after today. Shoving her hand in her pocket her fingers wrap around a little glass ball. A secret. Started out as his and his alone, but now it's hers too.

And she's got some explaining to do.

 **O**

Daryl didn't have to do much but back Dwight up and Dwight said his piece and the prospects who happened to have a lot more respect than their patch wearing brothers left without any problems. For now anyway. These things tend to turn into other things and eventually it turns into something bigger and there's bound to be a fight. But he's not worried about that right now.

He waved Dwight off at a stop sign and now it's just him and Beth. She's wearing Dwight's girlfriend's helmet but she's still on the front of the bike. She did it. Climbed up on it before him and just smiled so he got on back. It's not practical, he's aware of that. And really not safe, but he's being careful and it's just them on this little back road through the woods. So, for now, it's okay.

Turning off on a side road they ride until the road turns to dirt and he slows the bike down and goes a little further until it becomes a trail. Definitely not meant for vehicles. Stopping and killing the engine he climbs off and shrugs off his cuts. She watches raising an eyebrow but doesn't comment.

"Where we going?" she asks. Digging in his saddlebag he finds what he's looking for. A small bottle of whiskey. He glances over at her, his nerves are working overtime but he's made up his mind.

"Bring yer towel." She's got her bag that he tucked in behind them and she follows him when he turns towards the trees.

"Think that's safe, drinking whiskey and driving?" She's caught up to him and is walking beside him. She pulls a little white flower from a bush, twirls it in her fingers.

"I know my limit. 'S gonna take more than a couple of these to mess me up." He just needs a little liquid courage so he can talk to her. Because he's got a few things he wants to say and he's nervous as hell.

It's like deja vu when she reaches over and takes the bottle. Unscrewing the cap she smiles over at him.

"You don't mind do you?"

"Ain't legal," he mumbles. Handing it back to him she wipes her mouth.

"Is that a problem?" Nope. Not anymore. He's not going to let it be. The trails winds around a couple of large rocks and ends beside a small swimming hole complete with a little waterfall. Dropping her bag she steps to the edge of the water and looks around then over her shoulder at him.

"Daryl this place is beautiful. It's like…"

"A secret. I got a couple a those." There he said it. It's out there. Now she can say what she needs to and he'll take it, take it all. When he looks at her she's holding it in the palm of her hand, that little glass ball. It's one of his favorites. It's got amethyst and emerald swirls all through it, but there's a hint of blue, a soft blue that when he uses it always makes him think of her eyes. Now she's holding it in her hand.

"Me and daddy were in Atlanta, Cabbagetown, you know it?" He does. She knows he does. But he nods anyway. "I wanted to get something for Maggie and Glenn, a wedding gift. When we walked into the shop the first thing we saw was this stained glass window, this…" He's taken aback by her tears. But then he remembers it's more than just that little glass ball.

"Beth…"

"It was my house, our house, the farm. Horses and grass and sunlight. And on a card in front of the display, it said you were the artist. It said created by Daryl Dixon. The shopkeeper saw me and daddy standing there staring and she came over and she started telling us about the pieces she had and that she didn't know much about you cause you didn't want that.. didn't want… I couldn't say anything cause, well," she points to her face and Daryl gets it, kind of. "So daddy said we know this man, we know him very well, we… I never knew Daryl, you never said… but that's what I was trying to tell you in the barn, I just maybe I shouldn't have kissed you.. maybe I should've…" He's been trying to maintain some semblance of control but he can't do it any longer. Shouldn't have kissed him? He wouldn't change that, not that.

Reaching out he lays his hand on her cheek, slides it into her hair, that mess of curls that's hardly a bun anymore. And he leans down until his forehead is touching hers.

"Don't ya dare take back that kiss. It's mine... ya gave it ta me," he whispers and before she can say a word he covers her mouth with his, kisses her back like he didn't that night in the barn. Like he wanted to but was so afraid. And he's still afraid but he's not letting it stop him now.

The minute she moans into his mouth it's all over. Her towel is spread out in the shade of the trees and he leads her to it. Her mouth still on his and his hands are tugging off her shorts. He tenses up for a minute as she yanks at his t-shirt but she's seen what's under there plenty of times when they worked out in the heat on the farm.

She knows that secret too.

"Daryl… I want you so bad... I…" she whispers against his neck.

"Sure about that? Cause there ain't no going back Beth.. fuck... I'm... I love you.. ain't gonna walk away after this." Whiskey is his savior sometimes. The words are his and they come from his heart. He just needed a little help getting started.

"The only time I ever looked back is when you were behind me… I was waiting for you to catch up, for you to love me back." She shivers as his tongue traces the line of her collarbone as she fumbles with his belt buckle.

"I do, I love ya back." Pushing her hands away he gets the belt and his jeans undone and off and he pulls her down on top of him as she unties her bikini top and it falls into the grass. She's sitting here on his thighs naked and warm and so beautiful and for a second doubt creeps in, but she takes him in her hands, his cock that's hard with want all for her and nothing else matters except this and them.

"I love you too." She's breathless and he can feel her, smell her. Hot and wet, rubbing against his leg. Gripping her hips he moves her so instead of his leg she's grinding against his cock. Her hand falls away and she leans forward arching her back.

"Fuck Beth… gonna make me come." He's so close and they've barely done anything yet. Flipping her over so she's underneath him he raises himself up on his elbows and leans in lets his tongue trace each hard nipple before suckling one and then the other into his mouth moving back and forth between the two while she squirms underneath him.

"Please Daryl…" The fact that she wants him like she does almost feels as good as her hands on him. She's beautiful spread out like she is, her body flushed pink, nipples hard and wet from his mouth. She's also impatient and she gets ahold of his cock and strokes herself with it making him groan.

"I ain't got any protection..." Shit. He hadn't planned on this. And he doesn't carry it around in his back pocket because he doesn't.. he doesn't do that. Didn't want that. until now. With her.

"It's okay, I'm on... Daryl..." He slips a hand between them slides his fingers between her pussy lips, over her swollen clit. He raises his hand to his mouth and tastes her, watches her face as he does. Running a finger across her lips her kisses her letting her taste what he's tasting. Her. Then he takes her wrist and moves her hand down.

"You. Put my cock in…" The words fall away as she gets a hold of him and lifts up a little rubbing the head of his cock against her clit before bucking her hips up and taking all of him inside of her. "Fuck… feels so good Beth…" Balancing above her with one hand he cups her cheek with the other and leans down to kiss her thrusting his tongue in and out of her mouth in time with his cock.

"I'm so close…" her voice is trembling and it's doing things to him. He pulls her leg up around his waist so he can watch her hand as she helps get herself off. That's all he needs to follow her right over the edge. He rides her through it, rides them both through it and then eases down onto his side pulling her close.

For a few minutes, they just lay there and he listens to her breathe erratically at first and then slower and softer.

"No more secrets," she whispers.

"No more." There's one more thing he has to ask her. "Is yer daddy gonna kill me?"

"My daddy kinda figured I was in love with you a long time ago. He knew for sure when I started crying when I saw your window." She's running a finger up and down his bicep. He's not dead so that must mean Hershel doesn't want to kill him.

"He bought your window, Daryl. It's in the living room hanging in front of the big picture window so the sun can shine…" He'd hoped she hadn't heard the little gasp he tried to swallow. She did. But being Beth she didn't say a word. She shifted her body and pulled him down so his head rested on her chest and she held him.

It's the heat that finally gets them up and into the water. Sticky with sweat and each other they play in the water splashing and chasing each other. Until he gets her up against the rock under the waterfall.

Then it gets hot all over again.

 _~fin_

 **A/N This one took awhile.. I apologize! But now all I want to do is find myself a swimming hole and a Daryl! Enjoy and let me know what you think! Thank you!**


	5. Rush

**A/N Yeah I didn't make this post by midnight... I hope that's okay. Day 5 of Summer of Bethyl and the prompt is Rush. She was just chasing a rush…**

 **Taylor Swift and State of Grace may have had something to do with this…**

' _So you were never a saint and I've loved in shades of wrong'_

"Beth are you crazy?! He looks dangerous..." Amy's eyes are wide and she's looking at Beth like her best friend has suddenly grown an extra head.

The man in question is leaning up against the bar. He's wearing all black, his hair is a little wild and a dark scruff shadows his jaw. But his eyes when he looks over at her, and he is looking… his eyes are like the sky right before lightning strikes.

"Exactly…" Beth whispers.

Something more. That's all she wants. She doesn't need a state of grace just something that makes her feel that rush. Something that makes her feel alive.

Not Jimmy, a carbon copy of every country boy ever or Zach who was happier looking in the mirror than at her. Or even Noah who could've been just a friendly cup of coffee, but…

And maybe this will just be another one to add to her collection...

Amy finally leaves after Beth promises her she'll keep in touch. Beth just shakes her head as her friend sneaks a creeper photo. ' _Just in case'_ , Amy had said. Beth didn't get the 'just in case' vibe though. What she got was a racing heart and a burst of adrenaline as she walks across the bar from where she'd been sitting to the bar where he's still standing and nursing a beer.

She's waiting for the doubt to kick, that little kernel of uncertainty. But it never comes. All she feels is anticipation.

 **X**

Daryl saw her come into the bar with another blonde, could've been her sister. They came in laughing and shaking rain from their hair and took a corner table near the front of the bar. They ordered right away, two drinks. One was a fruity looking get up with slices of pineapple and maraschino cherries shoved in the glass and the other was a single shot of, if he wasn't mistaken, whiskey.

She took the whiskey, the girl that caught his eye.

Apparently, he's caught her eye too because he can feel her gaze all the way across the bar like a soft breeze stirring his hair.

She's too fucking beautiful to be looking his way. Blue eyed blonde with ivory skin that his hands are itching to touch and see if it's marble or if it'll give way under the pressure of his fingertips.

He might just get the chance to at least ask her her name because she's alone and she's walking in his direction.

"Hi." Her voice is soft and sweet but there's fire in her eyes and her smile, it's a weapon and she's already wielding it. Swinging it around and if he forgets to duck…

"Hey." _Classy,_ he thinks cringing. She hops up on the stool next to him still smiling and there are still miniscule drops of water resting in the curls of her hair, little drops of silver.

"Can I join you?" Her wide-eyed innocence makes him chuckle.

"Looks like ya already have girl." She seems pleased with this and she laughs softly.

"Yeah. I'm Beth." Holding out her hand he hesitates before taking it in his, not really shaking it, more like holding it and he isn't sure what the required time for a handshake is, but he's definitely exceeded it. But she's not pulling away either. So.

"Daryl."

Turns out he gets more than just her name. She's here for a conference at the big hospital down the road. Emory, he thinks its called. She's a pediatric nurse, plays the guitar and thinks it's waste of time to drink anything but whiskey.

Whatever kind of magic she's working has him offering up a little bit about himself too. Something about the whiskey or her eyes. He doesn't even care. They're sitting close enough that her thigh is pressed up against his and he's drawing circles on the back of her hand she's got wrapped a glass of ice water. Because she knows her limit and she doesn't want to forget this, that's what she says.

Neither does he.

"Wanna get outta here?" He's hoping like hell he's reading the signs right because it's been a while and this is kind of like unchartered territory.

She does.

 **X**

He's got a motorcycle. Of course, he does. He told her he likes bikes, builds his own. He's working out of a shop in Atlanta right now, getting ready to go back home and open his own shop. She didn't ask where home was, because this is supposed to go a certain way and that means however far away home is, is none of her business.

That unknown distance is already a soft ache somewhere in the vicinity of her heart.

But her heart isn't the only thing he's touching. She's wrapped herself around him on the back of his bike, his too-big helmet on her head because he insisted. And her body is on fire even with all the layers of clothes they've got between them.

He pulls into a little alley next to an older building. And he holds his hand out for her as she climbs off the bike, takes the helmet and her hand and leads around to the front door. He fumbles with his keys cause he keeps looking at her and she's got butterflies in her tummy.

"Got a preference?" The elevator is in front of them and he gestures to the door marked stairs.

"How far are we going, Daryl?" She bites her lip as she says it because this is what they're doing. And it's a rush, that rush she wanted. Only it's better.

"All the way. Top floor." His voice, it's like he's got his hands on her. Running them up and down making everything in her hard and soft at the same time.

"Elevator," she whispers.

The doors slide closed behind them with a click and she backs up until she feels the wall behind her. Solid, it's holding her up because he's standing across from her watching her. And then he's closing the distance and it's like the world slows down.

The helmet's on the floor and his hands are on either side of her head. Leaning in he brushes her cheek with his lips, rests his forehead against hers.

"You're beautiful.." Warm breath on her lips. She didn't expect that it throws her. He's gonna break her before this is over, break her like a promise.

"Daryl," Pushing forward, pressing against him and whimpering when he backs off. A muted ding. All the way went to fast.

The hallway they're in is tiny. There are three other doors besides the one he's opening. Inside is a loft. Not a big space but the windows looking out over the city are large and off to the right, a narrow staircase leads up to an open second level. She can see the corner of a bed. He sees where she's looking.

"Think we're gonna even make it up there girl?"

Tomorrow she probably won't be able to say who took the first step but they end up somewhere near the low suede coach. She's already slipped her jacket off when he slides his hands into her hair tangling it around his fingers moaning into her mouth when their lips touch.

Then it's the soft sounds of kissing and his leather vest falling onto the floor.

"I want ya so bad… Beth, I…."

"You can.. you, god just, your clothes.." He knows what she's trying to say and he pulls his shirt over his head reaches for her gets his hands under her shirt and runs them up her body dragging the fabric with them, holding her arms up while he leans in and kisses her shoulder, her neck and then his mouth is back on hers and he tastes like beer and whiskey because he took one of her shots.

Reaching between them she makes quick work of the button on her jeans and his hands are on his doing the same. She pushes them down over her hips and shivers in her panties and bra but it's not because she's cold. Daryl got his jeans off and not he's wearing anything underneath them and it's a turn on she never knew existed.

His cock is hard and bumps her thigh as he reaches around and undoes her bra, tosses it over her shoulder.

"Get 'em off. I'm gonna fuck you right here in front of the windows…" There's one dim light in the kitchen above the stove. The loft is filled with shadows. She wants him so bad she doesn't think she'd protest if he turned on every light and had them lit up for the world to see.

He's backing her up to the only bit of wall that isn't windows. Leaning in he kisses her again and she can't help herself, she runs her fingers through his hair, brushes it back from his face and pulls him down until her lips are barely touching his.

"You're beautiful too…" The strangled groan suggests pain and why would that hurt? He is, he's beautiful. He kisses her though, with a little more desperation and looks into her eyes before moving back.

"Wait. I have to get…" When he turns away she sees the scars that stripe his back and it hurts her in such a profound way. She doesn't even know him. But like the rest of him, the scars are beautiful. They're terribly beautiful.

He comes back with the condom tucked in his hand and he seems to sense what she saw.

"Wanna know?" He's offering to tell her but she doesn't think he really wants too.

"They're a part of you, that's all I need to know." Sliding a hand over her hip and to the hot warmth between her thighs she pushes a finger into the wet heat pulling his attention away from the other, giving him this, bringing him to his knees condom forgotten beside him on the floor.

He gets her leg up over his shoulder and fucks her with his tongue in front of the windows like he said he was going to and all it takes is a couple of flicks of her clit and she's coming undone. His face and shoulders soaked with her come. He holds her there, holds her steady for a few minutes. And she kisses him, laps at the mess she made until her growling in her ear.

"Com'on.. my bed…" Taking her hand they race like little kids to climb the stairs and she knows without a doubt the rules for how this is supposed to go have already been broken and there's no going back.

 **X**

He's terrified he's gonna wake up because things like this don't happen to Daryl Dixon. He doesn't get the girl, the beautiful girl that wants him, the girl he made come with his tongue and he watched as what he was doing made her fly.

He's got the condom and he slips it on as she crawls across his bed, the black comforter making her ivory skin glow. It is soft and it gives under his fingers like he thought it would.

"Get on your hands and knees, get…" She scrambles back over to him and does what he told her, arching her back and he can see the dark pink of her pussy with just the light coming in from the street. He could bury his face there again. She tastes.. he doesn't even have anything to compare it too. But his cock jerks and he grabs her by the hips and without warning, he drives into her, bottoms out and her moan makes him shiver.

"Fuck... Daryl fuck.. faster. Com'on.. please." She's whining, pushing back against him.

"Faster?"

"Yes.. yes.." He lays his open palm on her lower back. She's so fucking tiny. But he doesn't think he could break her, no, she's gonna break him.

"Beg.." She eases off a little, and he thinks maybe it was too much, maybe…

"Please Daryl, please go faster.. please I want you so bad." Fuck... He slams into her again and again and then when he's right there he flips her over because she's not just someone he's fucking, she's more, she's…

"Jesus Beth… I'm gonna come…" Groaning and doing his best to keep the rhythm going his mind is blown and his ego is stroked as she comes again. He can feel her pussy squeeze him, pulsate around his cock. And then just soft flutters. Bracing himself so he's not laying on top of her. He gives her time to catch her breath while he does the same.

She reaches up and pulls him down against her and he fumbles with the condom tosses it on the floor, hoping he remembers it later. Not now. Now he's gonna hold her. The fucking rules no longer apply. Besides she's already soft in his arms, all fucked out and ready to…

Let him hold her a little longer.

 **X**

She wakes up warm. Her face pressed up against his chest and she can smell him and if she never gets this again… but it's supposed to go a certain way. She rolls over and stretches, feels his hand on her tummy rubbing circles.

"I have to.." She starts and he moves his hand.

"Yeah, okay." There's something in his voice that doesn't feel good.

But.

Crawling from their warm cocoon she lays a hand on him when he starts to follow.

"You don't have too," she whispers. It's too awkward, too hard. She's gonna go alone. Call and uber once she's outside and around the block. The windows are even bigger in the soft gray light. It's going to rain again. She can see that. What she doesn't see, won't look at is the wall between the windows.

Pulling on her panties and searching for her bra. She hops around, tugging her jeans on. Her sweater and then her boots and she's kind of rushing, not because she wants to leave, but because she has too. This is the way it works.

The elevator's cold. The foyer and the front door, there's still no one around. She looks back over her shoulder and then pushes the door open.

She's halfway down the block with a lump in her throat.

"Hey!" She hears it even though he barely raises his voice. Turning she sees him, he's standing in the doorway of his building. Sweatpants and bare feet and it's cold and beginning to rain again.

He's not a one night stand, not a quick fuck. That rush she was chasing, she found it.

She's in way too deep.

"You're not wearing shoes…" As if to prove to her he doesn't care. Not a bit, he takes a step out onto the cold wet concrete step.

"Stay. Jus'... I don't want ya to leave."

She doesn't even have to think about it. She's already been thinking about it and what she thinks is that maybe there was more to that rush that she wanted so bad because she broke all the rules anyway.

She's never broke the rules with anyone else.

He's got ahold of her hand and he pulls her into the elevator and into his arms, kisses her and she can smell herself on him. She can smell him, them.

"What the hell did ya do to me girl?"

"I- I'm not sorry Daryl." She brushes his hair back again, kisses his cheek.

"Me either."

 _~fin_

' _Now all we know is don't let go'_

 **A/N I try and write smut for the sake of smut and it's just tangled up in love… thanks for reading! And for all the love for these little handfuls of bethyl...**


	6. Sunset and Sound

Sound & Sunset

 **A/N Okay I didn't do them on the actual day but I did them! For the prompts sound and sunset, I am taking a peek into my WIP... this isn't an update but a missing scene (or a scene I wasn't going to include but was able to here!) Daryl goes to the woods when life gets unbearable, he's been doing it all of his life. And while life is never what it was all those years ago, sometimes it's complicated and coming out here clears his head, lets him breathe. She showed him her place and he's gonna show her his.**

Daryl takes Beth's hand as they head out past the swings. It's early evening and the sky is already starting to change. Sunset isn't far off. But they have time. He wants to show her where he goes to get away from everything. Kind of like her loft in the barn.

They're heading in the opposite direction of the farm, away from the pond even. The woods here keep going forever. Daryl likes knowing that not everything is owned by someone. Some places are still wild. He hasn't been out here since he came back, hasn't seen the changes that he's pretty certain have taken place in the years he's been away.

"I love the woods, I've never been this way though," Beth says. She's keeping her voice down, hushed, like people might do in a church. But he can hear a little bit of excitement or awe, she likes this.

He likes it too. In fact, he probably should have been out here sooner. Maybe find perspective here and be able to let go of a few things he doesn't need to carry. Squeezing her hand he points ahead.

"Jus' up there, I'm thinking," he murmurs. He might as well look for something while they're out here. DJ's rabbit warren, if it exists, could be here. His nephew said it was in an open spot. And the trees are thinning here and Daryl remembers it's really the only clearing before the creek and he doubts very much the boys have gone that far, at least not on their own.

They step from the shade of the trees and into the fading sunlight. He thinks he hears the catch in her breath, a small sound that's really insignificant but he finds himself listening to all the little sounds she makes. As if he's tracking her. She lets go of his hand and takes a couple of steps away from him. The ground is dotted with little white flowers and the breeze is blowing gently making them sway. But it's not the ground that she's fixated on, it's the sky and when he follows her gaze he sees why.

"Daryl, look…"

Birds. Of course. A murmuration. He didn't realize when he gave her that birthday card, it just seemed like a nice card, he didn't know what it meant to her then. But he's seeing it now. She sees so much more in those birds than he thinks anyone else does. He moves up beside her, rests a hand on her back and tries to see them from her eyes.

"Yer birds…" he says it with a softness that surprises even him and he feels her looking at him then. Possibly hearing the same thing. His voice sounds different to her too.

"They're doing a dance only they can hear the music for…" He has to agree with that. It is a dance. He never actually thought about it in that way. What they're doing, him and her, it's kind of like a dance to and he only ever wants them to be able to hear the music. He only ever wants it to be their song.

" 'S pretty cool." Moving behind her he slips his arms around her waist, leans in and kisses her neck.

"It's beautiful," she says breathlessly and he kind of hopes he's part of the reason for that as he trails kisses down her shoulder.

"Yer beautiful," he whispers as she turns in his arms and finds his mouth with hers. It had been starting to cool off, had actually been a little cooler today than the past few days. It could also be that the sun is slowly sliding into bed but Beth's body pressed up against his and the way her lips are working and her teeth are nibbling, it's more like the middle of the day with the sun overhead, relentlessly shining down on them.

They could come out here and… it's not so different than the barn and the loft and wouldn't it be perfect to see her out here with nothing but the sun on her body?

"What're ya doin' uncle Daryl?" The small voice of an intruder and how did that intruder sneak up on him without him noticing? Oh. Her. Everything else seems to fall away when he's kissing Beth. And he's only paying attention to her.

Groaning he steps away from her, suddenly self-conscious and a little embarrassed but she's smiling, her cheeks flushed and she grabs his hand. Putting him right back in his place.

"Y'all prolly ain't supposed ta be out this far." Is all he can manage. Because really?! They're messing up another kiss all the way out here? Both boys look a little nervous now as if they're breaking a rule and just got caught.

"We was looking for a rabbit warren… you know, so's we could…" Beau says ignoring the way DJ is tapping him on the arm. "Why y'all out here?" The kid doesn't read the signs or he's too stubborn to give up. Huffing out a breath Beth takes over and it's probably a good thing. She's so much better at it...

"We're having a date, you know what that is right?" she asks the boys.

That gets them both giggling, even DJ who seems to at least be able to contain himself. But they nod like they do know. The bare minimum anyway.

"Go on, I'll look fer that warren," Daryl says. This sombers them up for a second and they both nod again. As they run off into the trees giggling like only 8-year-old boys can, Beau yells over his shoulder,

"You gonna kiss her again?"

"Beau shut up!" DJ says smacking his brother and trying to drag him at the same time.

"If she was my girl I'd kiss her all the time…" They've disappeared now not even their shadows are visible, but their voices drift through the trees.

"I'm tellin' mama!"

"No! Come on DJ.. don' tell… please..." And even those fade away with distance.

For a second they just stand there hands linked looking into the trees where the little boys went. He squeezes her hand and they start walking back in the trees and Daryl glances off to the left and low and behold... it's there, the telltale signs of a rabbit warren. It's overgrown from disuse. But at one time it was a safe place for a soft creature.

He stops, points and she sees it too. Girl's got a thing for birds, maybe she knows about rabbits and how they build these little places to hide or have babies. She smiles and leans into him.

"Rabbit warren." Her soft voice and warm breath on his shoulder and neck make it impossible to say anything so he just nods and they keep going. The stream is just up ahead. Merle and Carol's property line ends a few feet beyond it.

She catches sight of it and her delighted laugh reinforces the fact that this was a good idea, coming out here after all that happened today. She runs ahead and when he catches up to her she's kneeling, trailing her fingers in the water. He lays the crossbow on the grass and drops down beside her, leans back and watches what she's doing.

"You like it out here don't you?" she asks not looking at him, still mesmerized by the silvery water.

"Toldja, been coming out 'fore years or places jus' like it."

"Must be where the boys get it from, they like being in the woods too."

"Could be. 'S the only way I could get away without going for real, I mean when I was a kid. Didn't have nowhere ta run away to so I went to the woods." And the woods became his safe place, kind of like the rabbits' warren. A place to hide from predators, monsters. Things that wanted to kill and eat.

"To get away from your dad?" she asks. He nods and moves his arm as she scoots in beside him.

"Got lost in 'em once, had ta spend a night and half a day in 'em and even that wasn' as bad as being with him. So I jus' kept going and teaching myself how ta live in 'em. I do like it- out here. Wanted ta show ya."

"I like it too. I like it more now... " He sees it in her eyes, knows it on the tip of her tongue.

"Go ahead, say it… 's okay." It's even more okay when she smiles. It rivals the sunset going on around them. Fading beams of light are falling through the trees and shadows, maybe deer or little boys trying to break a rule or run away.

"I love you so much, Daryl… thank you for sharing this with me." He loves her soft kisses on his cheek, but what she said, how she put those three little words first, he loves that more than anything. Except her.

He loves her first, last and always.

 _~fin_

 **A/N I did it! I enjoyed doing these little drabbles! HIAAP will update next Sunday for those who are reading that. This little scene takes place between chapter 27 and 28! Thank you for all the sweetness! I appreciate it all! XOXO**


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